2. Denmark

The Danish Climate Act provides a framework for the country’s climate policy. It sets a long-term target for Denmark to achieve climate neutrality by 2050 at the latest. This target is broken down into two interim goals: a 50-54% reduction in GHG emissions by 2025 and a 70% reduction by 2030, compared to 1990 levels.

The current government aims to accelerate the climate neutrality target to 2045 and to set an additional target of 110% emission reduction by 2050, compared to 1990 levels (Prime Minister’s Office, 2022). To date, these new targets have not been incorporated into the Danish Climate Act.

The climate neutrality target encompasses all GHG emissions within Denmark, including LULUCF. Currently, Denmark does not plan to credit any reductions and removals achieved in other countries towards its climate neutrality target (Nordic Council of Ministers, 2023).

Under EU law, Denmark is committed to reducing emissions from sectors covered by the EU’s Effort Sharing Regulation (ESR) by 50% by 2030, relative to 2005 levels (EU Commission, 2024).

In accordance with the provisions of the Danish Climate Act, the government is expected to continuously increase Denmark’s climate ambitions. Guided by the vision of climate neutrality, it must regularly establish and revise ten-year interim targets. To implement these targets, the government is required to develop and annually update a comprehensive climate action plan. The most recent plan, published in September 2023, outlines economy-wide measures aiming to reduce net GHG emissions within Denmark and their current status (Ministry of Climate, Energy and Utilities, 2023).

Building on Denmark’s longstanding tradition of public-private collaboration, the government has emphasized the importance of cooperation with the business sectors to achieve its climate targets. To formalize such collaboration, the government launched the Climate Partnerships initiative in November 2019, inviting key sectors of the Danish economy to participate.

The Climate Partnerships initiative aims to enhance dialogue and cooperation among the government, businesses, and trade unions in Denmark regarding the opportunities and barriers in transitioning to a green economy. It establishes a framework for structured cooperation between the public and private sectors, aiming to develop a shared vision for achieving Denmark’s climate targets (Ministry of Industry, Business and Financial Affairs, Denmark, 2023). The initiative’s core concept has been summarized as follows: The public sector provides long-term goals and stable regulatory conditions, while the private sector contributes the innovation, solutions, and investments necessary to meet these goals (State of Green, 2024).

A key aspect of this initiative is the establishment of the Green Business Forum, which includes representatives from both the public and private sectors along with independent experts. Through ongoing discussions within this forum, the Climate Partnerships are expected to strengthen the awareness and commitment of businesses and provide them with a platform to formally communicate their climate-related situations and aspirations to the government. Most importantly, the initiative allows them to propose specific policy measures aiming to remove barriers and facilitate climate-friendly investments by improving the regulatory and institutional environment. This is intended to support the implementation of the government’s green ambitions, accelerate Denmark’s green transition, and contribute to achieving the country’s current and future climate targets (Ministry of Industry, Business and Financial Affairs, 2023).

The primary focus of the Climate Partnerships initiative is to ensure cooperation among key economic actors to achieve Denmark’s national climate targets. However, the initiative also encompasses broader economic, societal, and environmental goals. These include boosting exports, creating employment opportunities, promoting prosperity, and reducing inequality. Furthermore, the initiative aims to maintain Denmark’s international leadership in the green transition in a way that supports jobs, welfare, exports, and competitiveness (Ministry of Industry, Business and Financial Affairs, 2023).

Initially, 13 distinct partnerships were established, collectively covering Denmark’s most relevant business sectors in terms of GHG emissions (Prime Minister’s Office, 2019). In 2021, the defense sector joined the initiative, expanding its scope to a total of 14 sectors (Ministry of Climate, Energy and Utilities, 2024).

The role and organization of the Climate Partnerships and the Green Business Forum were initially outlined in two separate Terms of Reference (Kommissorium) issued by the Ministry of Industry, Business and Financial Affairs and the Ministry of Climate, Energy and Utilities in 2019 (Ministry of Industry, Business and Financial Affairs, 2019a, 2019b). These describe the purpose, mandate, and composition of the Climate Partnerships and the Green Business Forum, along with work procedures, timelines, and expected outcomes.

The roles of the collaboration participants have somewhat evolved since the issuance of the 2019 Terms of Reference. In April 2023, the government relaunched the Climate Partnership initiative and the Green Business Forum with new Terms of Reference, which include some adjustments to sharpen the focus on implementation and increase the business sector’s involvement in climate policy (Ministry of Industry, Business and Financial Affairs, 2023).

Each of the 14 partnerships is led by a chairperson, appointed by the Danish government, typically representing leading companies within the relevant sector. The chairperson bears the primary responsibility for formulating the sector’s vision and climate ambitions, as well as developing the partnership’s proposals. Relevant business organizations form secretariats, one for each partnership, tasked with facilitating the development of proposals through activities like information gathering, analytical support, and organization of events.

As many partnerships span multiple industries, extensive coordination among diverse stakeholders is necessary. To ensure expertise when developing the proposals, the chairperson may recruit additional business leaders, and specialized working groups within sub-sectors may be established to address specific challenges.

Representatives from relevant ministries support the partnership, primarily from the Ministry of Industry, Business and Financial Affairs and the Ministry of Climate, Energy and Utilities. Their role is to provide input and guidance, including standardized formats and harmonized methodologies, particularly concerning the use of numbers and data.

While each partnership retains independent control over its proposal and roadmap development, oversight and monitoring are maintained by the Green Business Forum. The forum is composed of relevant ministers, chairpersons of the climate partnerships, business sector representatives, trade unions, and independent experts (including the chairperson of the Danish Climate Council). The forum is jointly chaired by the Minister for Industry, Business and Financial Affairs, the Minister for Climate, Energy and Utilities, and the Minister for Economic Affairs.

The Green Business forum serves as a platform for dialogue among government, business, labor stakeholders, and climate organizations regarding opportunities and challenges of the private sector’s green transition. Meeting twice a year, the forum discusses concrete ways to achieve greenhouse gas reductions through both business sector efforts and governmental policy initiatives, along with discussing business opportunities for Danish companies related to the green transition.

In the 2019 Terms of Reference, the Climate Partnerships were tasked with submitting their ideas for their own GHG reduction measures and their proposals to the government for changes in the regulatory framework and for governmental measures. Specifically, the partnerships were required to:

In March 2020, the Climate Partnerships submitted their reports to the government, collectively comprising over 400 proposals and recommendations. While the reports are based on government guidelines and methodologies and are therefore somewhat similar in structure, the proposals and recommendations vary substantively. This variation reflects the unique conditions and opportunities for emission reductions that stem from differences across sectors in production methods, value chains, and demand (Ministry of Industry, Business and Financial Affairs, 2023). Further, overlaps exist between some proposals addressing cross-sectoral aspects because of the lack of coordination on substantive issues (The Danish Council on Climate Change, 2020).

The Climate Partnerships are viewed as an ongoing process with no specific end date. According to the 2019 Terms of Reference, the government was to assess whether and how the barriers reported by the Climate Partnerships could be addressed politically in its 2020 Climate Action Plan. The partnerships were expected to continue their work by developing sectoral roadmaps and maintaining continuous dialogue within the framework of the Green Business Forum. In 2021, one year after the submission of the Climate Partnerships’ reports, sector-specific roadmaps were published for nearly all the sectors (Ministry of Climate, Energy and Utilities, 2024).

The recommendations and sectoral roadmaps are publicly accessible in Danish on the website of the Ministry of Climate, Energy and Utilities. Additionally, State of Green, a public-private partnership between the government and three leading business associations (Danish Industry, Green Power Denmark and Danish Agriculture and Food Council) operates a special information website about the Climate Partnerships, providing information in English about each partnership and its recommendations. As part of this information-sharing initiative, State of Green published The Climate Partnership Playbook in 2022, aiming to provide insights into the experience of the Climate Partnerships and inspire other public-private collaboration initiatives (State of Green, 2022).

The Climate Partnerships continue to meet twice a year within the Green Business Forum to discuss relevant topics related to the green transition.

Based on informant feedback, the Climate Partnerships have contributed to several positive developments in Danish climate policy. All informants emphasized the vital role of public-private collaboration in achieving national climate targets and supported increased involvement of the private sector in shaping climate policy. While both public and private sector representatives seem to view the Climate Partnerships initiative as generally efficacious, most consider that it has thus far only moderately contributed to reducing net GHG emissions in Denmark. Nevertheless, several examples of recommendations directly influencing the formulation of concrete policy initiatives were mentioned (see also: State of Green, 2024).

The Green Business Forum’s work appears to be seen as one of the initiative’s most successful components, particularly its regular meetings involving public and private sectors representatives along with independent experts. The importance of dialogue between the government and private sectors was emphasized, especially when discussion takes place in small meetings, enabling more efficient sharing of information and perspectives than general participation procedures. A key factor in this success, according to one informant, is the direct involvement of company CEOs, who provide the government with a deeper understanding of the business sector’s potential in achieving climate goals and its requirements in terms of regulation and funding.

Overall, there appears to be a relatively high level of trust between Denmark’s public and private sectors, perhaps attributable in part to the longstanding tradition of such collaborations. However, some informants expressed concerns about diminishing trust, citing changes in post-COVID political priorities. Criticism was also voiced about an increasing lack of transparency from politicians regarding their climate objectives and plans.

Informants from the private sectors underscored their commitment and significant investment in the partnership, despite reportedly sometimes experiencing slow responses from the government, coupled with a seemingly growing lack of resources and commitment in the public sector. One informant mentioned that progress varies between climate partnerships — some experiencing significant advancement while others, particularly those reliant on municipal actions, are progressing more slowly. It was suggested that municipalities should have their own partnership to be more actively involved in cooperation to achieve national climate targets. Engaging consumer perspectives more directly was also recommended in order to better address the entire value chain.

Among other challenges identified by informants is the difficulty of maintaining the partnerships’ relevance amidst an evolving policy environment and increasing targets. Some informants seemed critical of the slow pace of decision-making and execution within the government and suggested honing the process, including clarifying the ‘ownership’ of the project and the responsibilities of relevant actors, along with implementing better follow-up procedures. Improving coordination between ministries and getting the Ministry of Finance more actively involved in the work were mentioned as factors that would be useful. Overall, there seems to be some uncertainty about the initiative’s future. This may be having a chilling effect on new private sector initiatives, as it seems increasingly unclear how the recommendations will be used.